The Reaper's Keeper
by kaaayyytteee
Summary: Hesper is just a sarcastic hybrid that finally found a soul that's compatible with hers, Crona. After making the big move from NYC to the DWMA, will Hesper still think that it's a huge mistake, or will the odds finally change in her favor. After all, her blood makes her destined to help in the salvation of the world. Death the Kid/OC.
1. Chapter 1

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My Grandmother always told me that people like us were supposed to aid the Reapers of this world. We were to be another pair of eyes for them, another weapon for their use. We were created many millennia ago beside the Reapers, made to have an equal give and take relationship.

We are none the less deadly then the Reapers.

My race wasn't created only to help the Reapers.

We were created to set the Reapers into place if they ever get to big for their britches…er..robes.

I find that I have a sort of internal conflict though. Whilst my mother and my grandmother are of a pure bloodline, my brothers and I are not. We're not fully like "those people", and our other side is a rather..unsatisfactory bloodline. That other half of our bloodline, is from a being that Reapers usually set out to hunt.

Thinking about my mutt blood is giving me quite the headache. Maybe my eldest brother is right, maybe I shouldn't let my panties get into such a twist over something that I can't even control.

"HESPER!"

Great..talk about someone who's got a twist in their granny panties.

"HESPER, COME DOWN HERE AND SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BROTHERS!" My mother screeched, making me face flop first into my stripped mattress. I fondly rubbed the texture of my childhood mattress, remembering all the fond memories I had in this room, all the creations I've made laying on this exact mattress.

"Comin'." I hollered down to my mother, sitting up and kicking one of my over stuffed suitcases. I was being sent to Death City, a large city in the middle of the Nevada Dessert. I'm pretty sure I'm going to burn to death, no pun intended. Going across the country wasn't going to be easy. I was born in New York, I don't think I could last living so far away from everyone I know…but, it had to be done.

Ignoring my suitcases, knowing my brothers will get them for me, I slowly walked out of my room and down the creaking staircase. My mother was standing by the front door, a proud smile on her face. My mother, a meister, had graduated from the prestigious Death Weapon Meister Academy, and she was proud that one of her three children was finally going to attending her beloved DWMA.

"Little Pepper!" My older brother, Solitude, said, coming out of the kitchen and giving me a hug. I snuggled in his arms for a moment, letting him ruffle up my hair, which was the same shade as his, dirty blonde. My eldest brother, Riften, was standing beside mother, his arms crossed over his chest and white eyes bright with excitement.

"Rift! Don't I get a huggle?" I laughed, squiggling out of Solitude's hold and rushing to my red haired brother.

"Why would I want to hug you? Little germ collector." Rift laughed, but pulled me into a tight hug as our red eyed brother ran upstairs to get my bags.

"Pff..you'll miss me." I laughed, letting him pinch my cheeks.

"I won't be if you email and text me as much as you promised you will." Rift laughed, flicking me on the nose. I stuck my tongue out at him, which he quickly tried to pinch. Pulling away, I turned and gave my mother the look that I'd been using on her since she informed me of my departure. The look was a mix between an almost-crying face, and a puppy dog pout. Mother sighed, shaking her head and scoffing.

"Hesper, we've been over this. I've been looking through all the Weapon-Meister schools for a meister for you." Mother said, brushing the red hair away from her white eyes. "I've finally found someone who's soul can match up with yours. It's a miracle we've found someone like him, we've been looking so long for someone." Mother said, giving me a sad look. Mother knew I didn't want to go, but she's right.

"I..I know, 'Ma." I sighed, clenching my fists. "But I've grown accustom that I would be a Meister-less weapon, and as soon as I find peace, this…dude pops up." I said, looking down at the picture of my Meister. From the picture I really couldn't tell the gender…but I assumed male by the lack of breasts and the minimal length of eyelashes.

"Crona." I read off the back of the photo. "No last name."

"I think he looks like a sweet boy." Mother cooed, looking down at the frightened boy in the picture.

"Yes." Riften laughed, peering over my shoulder. "Looks like someone who can be easily..manipulated."

"Riften! No teasing Hesper's meister before you even meet him." Mother scolded, slapping her forehead.

"Hesp." An old voice cooed from the living room, gaining attention from everyone. My grandmother stood in the doorway, her white eyes bright and teary, the bright white orbs having become slightly pearl like with age. Even though our race didn't age physically past 25, our age could be seen by our eyes.

"Nanny.." I said, going to her for a hug. Her strong arms wrapped around me, rocking me back and forth just like how she always has.

"You will be brave, you will be smart, and you will be strong." She whispered the words that I've heard since I was old enough to remember.

"I will be fearless, I will be intelligent, and I will be unstoppable." I said back, making Nanny's lips lift into a melancholy smile.

"You're ready to go." Nanny smiled, nodding her head. "This boy will make you powerful. Just remember, you're the first weapon ever in our family. We're proud of you."

"Thanks Nanny." I said, feeling my cheeks blush bright red.

"I'll open up the portal for you..are you ready?" Nanny asked, snapping her fingers. A green portal appeared where the front door used to be, and my brothers took joy in throwing my many suitcases through the portal.

"One moment." Mother said, running upstairs and then back down in a blink of an eye. She held a beaten up black hooded cloak, hugged it to her chest for a moment before wrapping it around my shoulders.

"This was your fathers." She whispered, securing it around my shoulders and tugging the hood up. The cloak was very long, the already tattered ends dragging onto the ground for about two feet of the fabric. The hood covered my eyes, making me have to constantly tug the hood back so I could see.

"You'll fill it out..one day." Mother said, adjusting the hood and rolling up the sleeves.

"Maybe." I smiled, giving my mother another hug before walking towards the portal.

"Bye guys. I love you." I said, smiling at my family. Mother, Nanny, Riften and Solitude all waved, tears in their white eyes.

"Just remember Hesper, make your family proud. You are a Daley." Nanny said the last words I heard before I fully stepped through the portal.

* * *

"As you all know, a new student shall be joining us today." Professor Stein deadpanned, screwing with the bolt that was in his skull. "This student is a weapon, and will be Crona's partner." The grey haired teacher said, staring towards the pink haired boy.

"A-a new weapon..I-I'm not s-sure if I can han-handle that." Crona mumbled, looking towards Maka for some confidence. The pigtailed blonde smiled towards her twitchy friend, patting his pale and trembling hand.

"You saw her profile, Crona." Maka reminded him. "You've had a few weeks to get used to the idea of her as your weapon. Besides, her personality and soul will work alongside yours. This weapon has been having a hard time finding a Meister, just like how you've had trouble finding a weapon since Lord Death banished Ragnarok from your body." Maka said to calm the trembling pinkette.

"I…c-can try to handle…it." Crona said, instantly paling at the knock at the door. Stein sighed, stopping midway of cutting up a rare monkey specimen and quickly scooted his rolley chair to the sliding door. All the students immediately looked towards the door, curious of the newest weapon.

"Students." Stein said boredly, rolling back to his desk and started twiddling with a shiny, sterile scalpel. "This is the new student, Hesper Daley. Say hello." He sighed, putting all his attention back to his experiment. The whole Crescent Moon Class lent forwards in their seats, all eager to get a view of Crona's weapon.

The girl was small, maybe around 5'0. about a foot and a half shorter than Crona. Her long dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a single French braid, most of her body shrouded in an extra large black cloak. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans, and a simple green tee-shirt. Worn looking flip flops adorned her feet, and Maka could just make out the colorful threads of multiple ankle bracelets that were tied around the pale limbs.

The only thing that stunned Maka for a moment were her eyes.

Hesper's right eye was a bright red, the pupil matching the bloody iris. Her left eye was an opaque white, rimmed with red to make it pop out against the whites of her eye, the iris an off-white grey shade. Both seemed to function perfectly based on how the orbs flickered around the room. Neither eye seemed to look like she'd put in a colored contact, so they must be natural. Hesper's mismatched red and white eyes glanced around the large room, her dirty blonde brows furrowing.

"Hey. Which one of you is Crona?" The girl's voice was a deep, calming swoon. Crona tensed for a moment, but slowly raised his hand.

"Coolio." The blonde perked up, practically skipping over to the empty seat beside the boy. Plopping down on the spinning chair, the girl began to chatter faster than Maka had ever heard someone talk.

"Hey, I'm Hesper. You can call me Hesp, Hes, or Pepper. Whichever you like. Anyways, I was told that we're gonna be a team, that means we're gonna be good friends, best friends even. I've never had a real friend before, but that's cause I guess I get overly excited. I just can't help myself when I get hyper and excited. I've been so excited to meet you, Crona! I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" Hesper said in one long breath, staring into Crona's pale purple-grey orbs.

"I-I can't h-handle so...so many questions." Crona whimpered, covering his head with his hands. Hesper's brows dropped sadly, her breathless smile sliding down. She seemed embarrassed now, her mismatched orbs looking anywhere besides Crona, and Maka could have sworn she saw the poor little thing shudder.

"Excuse me." Maka said, getting Hesper's attention. "I'm Maka Albarn, please excuse Crona, he's a shy one. I don't think anyone's ever asked him so many questions."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Crona." Hesper smiled softly, hunching over slightly.

"S'o-okay, Hesper." Crona smiled a tiny smile, peeking shyly at his new weapon.

"Class is almost over, Crona and I are gonna be meeting all of our friends in the park just outside, you should come along to meet everyone." Maka invited the blonde, who's mismatched eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Really?" Hesper asked, perking up. Maka nodded, a large smile on her face. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of classes. The new trio stood from their seats, and the two meisters led the newest student through the halls.

"Where are you staying, if you don't mind me asking?" Maka asked, seeing the small girl clinging onto Crona's arm. Crona seemed shaken by the contact, but thankfully wasn't swatting the girl away in terror.

"I got an apartment just a few streets down, down on Turnoise Street." Hesper said, hoping the green eyed girl would know which apartment she was talking about.

"Oh, you mean City Cliff Apartments, yeah, I've passed that building whenever I go grocery shopping!" Maka said, remembering the bright pink building.

"Yessir, Apartment D45, that's me." Hesper said, shielding her eyes from the sun as the three walked closer and closer to the park. Soon enough, Hesper could hear a small group of people shouting, all gathered around the shade of some large trees.

"Maka! Crona!" A pretty, busty, black haired girl called softly, waving eagerly towards the three new comers. Maka led the two partners into the group, sitting down on the cool grass. Hesper sat down by her new meister, and smiled shyly at the blue haired boy that was next to her.

"Hey guys, this is the new student, Crona's partner, Hesper." Maka introduced the mismatched eyed girl, who waved happily at the small group.

"Hi." She said cheerily, not sensing the horrified gaze of a certain Reaper, or the gaze of sheer excitement from a certain blue haired assassin.

"Hesp, his is my weapon, Soul." Maka said, pointing to the lounging, white haired, red eyed boy. Hesper smiled, noticing that Soul had a very calming demeanor, and knew immediately that she and him would be getting along just fine. Happy to find another lazy, sarcastic person, Hesper was very excited to spend more time with Soul.

"This is Tsubaki, and her meister, Black-Star." Maka pointed to the black haired, busty girl and the small, muscular, blue haired boy. The blue haired boy was giving Hesper a wide eyed, excited stare. He seemed a little bit errotic, but looked nice enough. Tsubaki was an old, kind, gentle soul that Hesper already knew she liked.

"And this is Liz and Patty, and their meister, Kid." Maka introduced, the two blue eyed, blonde, sisters smiling happily towards the smaller blonde. The two sisters looked nice enough, but looked like they had come from a hard place. Their meister was a pale boy with sun colored eyes and black hair that had three stripes on the side. Hesper couldn't tell about the boy, since he was apparently speechless, but the sisters looked like good people.

"Nice to meet all you guys." Hesper said, still clutching onto the elbow of Crona's robes.

"Nice to meet you too." Tsubaki said, clapping her hands together in joy.

"You shall bow to the mighty power of the God….BLACK-STAR!" Black-Star shouted, pumping his arms up. His pale blue eyes zoomed in on Hesper's, staring deep into her soul.

"You must be really strong! A-are you really a God?" Hesper asked, something horrifically seeming like adoration flickering in her mismatched eyes. Maka felt her eye twitch, hoping that Black-Star didn't just gain his own and only (besides Tsubaki) "disciple". Just as Hesper was about to praise Black-Star some more, someone's muttering caught her attention. That boy, the one named Kid, was holding his face and was rocking back and forth on his behind.

"S-such…symmetry..until…until.." Kid seemed to sob, clenching his face. Patty and Liz were trying to calm their meister down with a pep talk and a few rough pats on the back, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Perfect symmetry..until those disgusting, horrendous, swine-esq, putrefied EYES." Kid snarled, uncovering his face and glaring in Hesper's direction. Hesper reeled back for a moment, and Kid rudely jabbed a finger in her face.

"Those mismatched eyes…I've never seen something…so..unnatural." Kid yelped, but was quickly thrown onto the ground, courteous of a Maka-Chop. Kid's eyes were now swirling as his whole world became jumbled by Maka's attack. Maka sighed, shaking her head at the young Reaper.

"Kid, you can't go talking to people like that!" Maka hissed, chopping him one more time whist Soul and Black-Star laughed at his misfortune. Kid moaned and groaned for a few more minutes, pressing his pounding head into the cool grass.

"U..uh, Maka?" Crona said awkwardly, wringing his hands.

"Yes, Crona?" Maka said, chopping at Soul and Black-Star, stopping their loud laughter.

"H-Hesper left."

"W-what!"


	2. Moving In

Thanks to my two lovely reviewers : Designation ViperWolf and .cupcakes113.

Also, the story starts around the end of Part 2 of the anime, right around when Arachnophobia starts up. (:

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I was always told to be brave, be smart, and be strong. I've always tried to live by that motto, no matter how hard it had been in the past. Ever since I was old enough to remember it, I've followed my motto. Ever since Ma' and Da' separated. Ever since Da' was taken away from us.

I tried to repeat that motto to myself as I walked with my head down. I'd hoped that this school would have been different from the others, since it was headed by Lord Death himself. The DWMA is just like every other school, filled with some nice people, but mostly filled with people who liked to pick on you for your looks. I don't know why I was letting what Death the Kid said bother me anyway, alot of people have made fun of my eyes before, and you wanna know what they got? A long and loud "Fuck you." After all, he's got some freaky lookin' eyes too! And don't even get me started on that name!

Sighing, I walked into my apartment building, and up the neck braking, leg crippling stairs. Maybe I should invest in one of those electric chairs that you can attach to the wall and ride up. Coming upon my apartment, I unlocked my door and sadly shuffled into my new home. It was a decent sized apartment, the door opened to a nice sized living room, a small kitchen, and two bedrooms that each had their own bathroom. Along one of the living room walls was a large, sliding glass door that led out to a nice patio that was ready to be covered in all the flowers I planned on planting.

I eyed the wall of stacked and unpacked boxes containing my life from New York City. I really didn't have the heart, or the want to unpack everything. I'd rather just sit on my fat ass and watch comedians make fun of each other on TV.

"I don't even remember packing boxes." I mused, only remembering having those over stuffed suitcases.

Flopping onto the couch, I flicked on the TV, turning the channel to a cartoon, the bright lights clouding my melancholy thoughts. Maybe I was taking Kid's criticism too seriously, maybe I just needed to loosen up a bit, learn to laugh at myself. I did have asymmetrical eyes after all. And I like my eyes just fine damnit! Just as I was about to take off my cloak, my door was knocked on. Peering out the peep hole, I could see Black-Star, Maka, Crona, and Tsubaki waiting outside my door. Not wanting to be rude, I let them all in.

"H-hi." I said shyly, closing the door behind them.

"Hey, listen Hesper, Kid's kind of a…weirdo at times." Maka said, reaching out and patting my shoulder. Maka's words made me feel a little better, but a part of me told me that I was still taking Kid's words too seriously.

"Nah, s'okay. Kid's right, I'm kinda a nasty monster. I-I mean, he's right, it's not like my eyes or normal or anything." I tried to laugh, but the forced chuckle was lodged in my throat. I felt confused, usually I was so much more..sarcastic than this. Maybe it's just from being shy, but I found myself not being as..rough as I usually am.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Kid's just..Kid. He'll get used to you. If this is all over, it's cool." Soul said, smiling and showing off his pointed teeth. "We're gonna go get something to eat, why don't you tag along, get to know the city." Soul offered, being the apparently cool guy he was. I perked up at the prospect of food, I love food.

"I really should finish packing, but I'm starvin'. Sure." I said, pretending that they interrupted my unpacking, and not my moping. I followed the gang out the door, settling my pace besides Crona and grabbed onto the elbow of his robes. He seemed to twitch a little, looking down at me with frightened eyes.

"W-why do..do you d-do that?" Crona asked, scratching the back of his head. I shrugged, loosening my grip on his robes.

"I don't wanna get lost, I guess. It's…kinda a security thing for me." I said, smiling awkwardly up at the gangly pinkette. Crona nodded, and let me cling onto his robes. Tsubaki and I talked for most of the way to the restaurant, mostly about how I liked Death City so far. When I mentioned that I was going to go flower shopping eventually, Tsubaki told me that she knew of a great greenery a few blocks over, and offered to come with me. I eagerly agreed, it would be nice to get to know the black haired girl.

"Y-you…you like..f-flowers?" Crona asked, trying to add to the conversation.

"Yeah, they're pretty. Do you?" I asked, looking up his towering form.

"I like candy better." He said, not stuttering for once. I chose not to point out his lack of stutter, I didn't want to make him self-conscious.

"I do enjoy candy. Chocolate is pure love." I said, making the pink haired boy smile.

"I-I like taffy better..softer c-candy is nice." He said, eyeing a candy store that was across the street.

"We should go get candy, get all hyper and then bug Kid about symmetry." Black-Star said with a huge grin as we all walked into the restaurant, and were seated in a large booth. Black-Star, Crona, and I were sitting on one side of the booth, while Tsubaki, Soul, and Maka sat across from us.

"I think you'll like this place." Tsubaki said softly as our waitress handed out menus. "They've got really good hamburgers."

"Yes! Even the great Black-Star approves of this place." Black-Star said, puffing his chest out. I laughed, choosing to get a cheeseburger instead and started playing games of thumb war with Tsubaki and Black-Star.

While I awaited my chance to face Tsubaki in another thumb war, I noticed that there were three empty spaces at the ends of the booth, and Maka was watching the front door, like she was waiting for someone. Crona noticed my confusion, and he hunched down to whisper to me.

"Liz, Patty, and Kid are coming. Don't wo-worry…I-I won't le-let him..s-say any..anything to you." Crona said, standing up and offering to swap seats with me so I would be a little further away from Kid when he arrived. I shook my head, but thanked him, it was a nice gesture.

"If I wanna be in this group, then I have to get used to the fact that Kid sees me as disgusting." I shrugged, sipping on my soda that the waitress brought me. Soon enough, Kid, Liz and Patty came through the door and sat with the group.

"Hey Liz, Kid, Patty." Maka said, bright eyed as always.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Patty said, waving her arms around erratically.

"Once more, Patty." Kid said, making Patty sigh and say "Hey" once more time. Kid sighed, an appeased smile on his face.

"Six..a nice, even number. Not as good as eight, but still even none the less." Kid sighed, taking his straw and trying to make it sit evenly in his water glass.

"H-hi." I stuttered, peering around Black-Star to smile at the trio. Liz and Patty seemed happy to see me, but Kid seemed a little embarrassed. His eyes refused to meet mine, and his cheeks were turning a bit pink. He stuck his face in his menu, and began mumbling quietly to himself.

I was just a tad creeped out by his mumbling, so I stiffly turned myself to face Maka, my eyes wide and mentally sending her some "What the fuck's his problem" thoughts. Maka laughed quietly, shrugging and turned back to reading her menu.

"So.." Maka said, trying to break the awkward silence that had befallen the table. "Has anyone heard from Excalibur recently?" Black-Star and Kid seemed to wither under Maka's question, and looked like they both wanted to barf. Both meisters quickly shouted "NO!", making the whole table burst out in laughter. Now that the silence was broken, everyone began to chat in little pairs about this and that, and ordered their food.

"My mom signed me up for piano lesions, but I was never any good." I laughed with Soul, who happened to be a great musician and had stuck up a conversation about the piano with me. "My teacher was a nun who'd always slam my fingers with the key bar if I messed up."

"Wow, so uncool!" Soul laughed, soda almost shooting out of his nose at my misery. Crona seemed horrified about pianos now and was drumming his fingers on the table rather nervously. I hope my meister was only nervous meeting new people, and wasn't this..neurotic all the time.

"Do you play music, Crona?" I asked, looking up at the gangly pinkette.

"No..n-no. Too much pressure. I-I probably couldn't handle it." He said bashfully, scratching his back. I pat his back, cringing at the feeling of bone pressing tight against his skin. Poor boy! He must be starving! I didn't point out his apparent malnourishment, not wanting to stress my meister out on the first day of our friendship.

"Who had the turkey wrap?" The waitress asked, passing the plate to Maka who raised her hand.

"I hope my sandwich is cut into eights this time." Kid mused, looking a little pale in the face. I gave Crona another of my confused looks. Crona just smiled a twitchy little smile and shrugged.

This is gonna take a lot of adjustment.

* * *

"I've asked you two to come have a private lesson with me because of your…disadvantage to the other meister-weapon partners. Most of your peers have been with their partners for a long time, whereas you two have a very delayed start." Professor Stein said, sitting on his rolley chair. The stitched man had called Crona and I for a private lesson outside in one of the schools many training gardens.

"Would you mind going into weapon form, Miss Daley?" Stein asked, lighting up a cigarette and reclining on his rolley chair. Does he always have his wheelie chair? Is he crippled? He looks like he could be with all those stitched up scars. Maybe he was attacked by a lion.

"Right." I nodded, closing my eyes and feeling a bright teal light cover my body. I felt my whole being begin to piece apart, my skin stretching and becoming metal and blade. My soul shook and doughed to create my weapon form. I exhaled as my transformation was complete, it had been awhile since I had to fully transform. I peaked out from the blade of my weapon, careful to not show anything indecent. The one thing I hate about weapon form was that in this realm, and in the reflection of the blade, us weapons are always naked for some reason.

"Quite nice, I haven't seen one like you in a long time." Professor Stein smiled, nodding to Crona to grab my handle.

"A G-guan Dao." Crona stuttered, not taking his eyes off my now 7-foot-tall form that was standing in the middle of the training garden.

"Don't be scared, Crona!" I said, peering through the blade to smile at the pinkette. Crona swallowed thickly and managed to tip toe towards me, reach one hand out and poke my handle. Stein sighed, pressing his palm against his face and shaking his head.

"Here." Professor Stein said, actually getting out of his chair and taking ahold of my handle. I guess he isn't crippled after all. "I'll show you the proper way to wield a Guan Dao."

I was no ordinary Guan Dao either, ya know, besides the whole demon weapon thing. I was a whole 7-feet tall, one foot being a long, curved, silver-steel blade. My handle was made of a sturdy metal that was the same color of my soul, teal green. A single strand of white-silver pearls wrapped around my handle, mostly for show, but also for some good grip to make sure I don't slide too much in my meister's hands. Two black tassels hang from one of the hooks on my blade, and the bottom of my handle is pointed into a sharp needle.

"Just place your hands here." Stein said after showing off some flashy moves. I wasn't used to being used as a weapon and all the spinning did get me a little dizzy. I quickly shook my head, fully aware of Crona's trembling hands on my handle.

"Take a few practice swings on those straw dummies I set up." Professor Stein said, sitting back down in his wheelie chair. Crona took a deep breath, tightening his grip on my handle and sprinted towards one of the shabbily assembled straw dummies. I had to brace myself quickly as Crona started to move, I had no clue the stick thin pinkette had this sort of speed.

Crona suddenly stopped running, tumbling under his own feet and falling face down in the dirt. Quickly, I transformed back to my normal form and rolled him over onto his back. Loud gaufs of laughter alerted me that we were not alone. Atop one of the thick stone walls that gave training gardens a sense of privacy, Black-Star, Tsubaki, Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz and Patty were all observing us. Soul, Patty, and Black-Star were laughing obnoxiously at Crona's failure, Black-Star even going as far as to point at the pinkette.

"Stop laughing." I scowled, glaring at the three. Liz quickly slapped her hand over Patty's mouth and Maka chopped Soul into silence. Tsubaki was tugging on Black-Star's shirt, trying to get him to stop laughing. The others seemed to start to worry when my face started darkening.

"I said stop." I growled, clenching my fists and standing tall. Black-Star kept on laughing, snot started to dribble down his face.

"I SAID STOP LAUGHING AT MY MEISTER!" I screamed, running towards the stone wall. Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz and Patty all jumped away from Black-Star, who was laughing so hard he knocked Tsubaki off the wall. I jumped up onto a tree's low hanging branch, using it to launch myself towards Black-Star.

"IMP IMPEL!"

* * *

Death The Kid:

It was quite simple to see that the small girl was getting highly irritated by Black-Star's laughter. Crona was still on the ground, covered in dirt and scrapes on his face. Black-Star seemed to laugh louder when Hesper ordered him to stop, enraging the asymmetrical eyed girl. Within a blink of an eye, she was flying towards the top of the wall where we were sitting. We all dove away from the laughing baboon just in time to witness Hesper's attack.

Using a low tree branch as a spring board, the blonde was rocketing towards Black-Star, who had no clue of his impending doom. In one swift movement in midair, Hesper spread her legs horizontally, like a midair split, and pushed her hands out in front of her with open palms and fingers up.

"IMP IMPEL!" She screamed, a big ball of white light appearing in her hands. Just as she reached Black-Star, there was a huge flash of white, and for a moment I thought I'd either feinted, or there was a massive explosion. Black-Star shouted and was blasted off the wall. He landed with a bang about twenty feet away, landing in a rather large and thorny rose bush.

Hesper dropped to the ground in a crouch, and huffed in the direction where Black-Star flew off to. She quickly scampered back to her meister and started to prod at him worriedly. We all stared worriedly at Black-Star, even though he deserved it. He rose a shaky, bloodied hand and gave us a trembling thumbs up.

Idiot.

I turned back to Crona and Hesper, who had helped Crona sit up. Hesper was using the bottom of her long tee-shirt to wipe as much dirt away from Crona's face as possible. Interested in the new girls interactions with Crona, Maka and I listened in while the others went to laugh at Black-Star.

"Why'd you stop, Crona? Were you hurt? Was I too heavy?" She asked, licking her thumb to scrub a rather nasty looking line of filth from Crona's cheek.

"I-I just didn't know any..any attacks..Y-you..I don't know how to handle you." Crona whimpered, covering his eyes with his hands as he started to cry. I hope this won't turn out badly. Whenever Crona starts to cry and someone yells at him to knock it off, he just tends to cry louder. Maka and I were the first to jump off the wall and into the training garden, just incase Crona's tantrum became too much for his new weapon.

Hesper looked sad, her shoulders sagging and she tilted her head to the side as if she was curious. Quickly, she wrapped her arms around Crona's neck and dragged him down to her level. All of us stared at the pair with wide eyes as the small girl somehow managed to help Crona curl up onto her lap, and began rocking him.

"It's alright, it's alright to cry and it's okay if you don't know how to do something." Hesper whispered, still rocking back and forth. "You cry, you let it all out, but you have to stop soon, okay? You don't want to cry yourself sick, right?"

"N-n-no." Crona sniffled, wiping his eyes and looking up at his weapon.

"There you are." She smiled as the witch's son unfurled himself from her grasp and sat in front of her closely.

"You okay Crona? Hesper?" Maka asked, taking a ginger step towards the pair. Hesper smiled, nodding her head and Crona gave a rather non-convincing twitch. Tsubaki had rescued Black-Star from the bush and was sitting with him, trying to pluck all the thorns out as Patty sat and laughed at them.

"Sorry about Black-Star.." Tsubaki called, sending Hesper an embarassed look. I waited for Hesper's response. Would she tell Tsubaki to keep a tighter leash on her meister? Would she blame herself and apologize for playing cannon ball Black-Star. I must say that her midair form was quite excellent.

"Don't worry about it. Tell Black-Star I'm sorry for well...you know." The Guan Dao winced, hearing a rather nasty howl come from Black-Star as Patty pulled a long thorn out of his leg. I slowly walked towards Maka, Hesper, and Crona, sitting beside the newest weapon.

"That was a lovely midair attack." I said, trying to be friendly. "You have very good balance."

Try not to look at her eyes...try not to look at her eyes.

Maybe if I look between her eyes..

Nope, that just makes me look at her asymmetrical eyes.

Maybe if I just look at one eye at a time and see if they're symmetrical by themselves. Ahh yes, each side of her eye is symmetrical with the other side. You know, other than her eyes, her face isn't to disgusting to look at. Her nose was very small, and was dotted in freckles. Freckles were under her eyes and just above her eye brows in perfect little rows, and seemed to be symmetrical.

Oh..has she been talking this whole time.

"-I guess that's cause I'm the youngest and my older brothers always steal the turkey." She said, blinking happily at me.

"Ah. Of course." I said, puffing my chest out and pretending to understand everything she said.

"Mh." Hesper hummed, smiling at me. It quickly turned into an awkward silence, seeing as Liz, Tsubaki, Soul, and Patty were helping Black-Star while Maka helped give Crona a pep-talk.

"So-o." She whistled, twiddling her thumbs, but she said nothing after that. I kept staring at her face, noticing that there were eight small freckles exactly over each of her eyebrows. Her hair was in an almost perfect french braid, with only a few stray hairs out of place. Her ears seemed centered perfectly, but her ear piercings seemed a little crooked. Her cheek bones were high, and there was not a trace of make up to be seen on her face. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had been dead silent for around five minutes and was blatantly staring at Hesper's face.

"I-I'm sorry." I said, covering my eyes with my hands. It was never gentlemanly like to stare at a lady for too long. I hope she didn't think any lesser of me than she already does. Oh who am I kidding, I'm asymmetrical garbage. Unfit to breath the same air as the beautiful symmetry of his world.

"Don't worry 'bout it." Hesper shrugged, dragging me out of my self loathing. "Where I come from alot of people stare. I just hope I'm not making you ill." She said honestly, shooting a worried glance at Crona.

"Ill?" I questioned, not understanding the blondes light and honest words. Hesper shrugged, tugging at the tail end of her braid.

"Soul told me about your problem, if you can't look me in the eyes, that's alright." She said, her voice monotone. The same type of dull voice that Tsubaki uses on Black-Star when she pretends not to be offended, angry, or upset.

"I uh..no." I said awkwardly, finding it hard to lie and say that her eyes didn't bother me.

"I better go over some attacks with Crona." Hesper said awkwardly, pulling away from our conversation and slumped over to Crona in a rather sad manner. I sighed, scratching my head and realized that I once again needed to apologize for offending her, whether it was intentional or not this time.


	3. Starting Up

Thanks to my lovely reviewers :Designation ViperWolf and .cupcakes113

(: Read and Review

*Oh, anything in italics is what is going on in the mirror (:

* * *

"HYBRID SLASH!" Crona screamed, spinning my blade in a deep, horizontal swing. My blade cut through the straw dummy with ease. The souless form fell to the ground in a pile of diced hay, and the next dummy met the same fate by my blade.

"We're doing awesome, Crona!" I cheered, watching through the blade. "Let's try the vertical cut now." I said, earning a nod from the pinkette. Crona tightened his grip on my handle and placed his focus on the dummy ahead of him.

"IMPURE SWING!" He shouted, raising me over his head and swinging down. The dummy and the wooden pole it was attached to split perfectly in half before clattering to the ground. Crona smiled and set me down on the ground, letting me change back to my human form.

"We're getting good." I smiled, giving the shy boy a tight hug.

"I-I know..Professor Stein say...says we might be able t-to go on missions soon w-with the other students." Crona said, stuttering lightly.

"Sweet! Our first mission together! We'll be ready for it, so don't you worry too much. So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I said, noticing that our scheduled practice time was over. I needed to start heading home to work on some homework and make some dinner.

"I-I'll walk you back home." Crona said, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his toothpick sized shoulder.

"You don't have to, babe." I said, unconsciously using a nickname that I usually call my brothers by. "It's not even dark. I'll text you when I get home, 'kay?" I said, giving him another hug goodbye and started walking home without a second thought.

If I had bothered to turn around, I would have seen a few strange sights.

There was a bright red, blushing Crona, who kept muttering 'Babe..she called me babe..I don't know how to handle this.'

And a rather mischievous looking Black-Star, watching from atop a low hanging roof, rubbing his hands together manically.

* * *

"HEY YOU!" A loud voice bellowed, something heavy smacking against my half opened kitchen window.

"AAHH!" I screamed, jumping away from my dinner: a pot of boiling pasta. I was in my kitchen stirring my pot and looking out of the window in front of me, when suddenly, a wild, screaming Black-Star appeared in my window.

"Jesus! You scared the hell out of me." I sighed, watching the muscular little blue guy try to scramble through the window. He accidentally stuck his hand into the pot of hot water, and began to scream while waving his reddened hand around his head. In his hysterics, he managed to fall through the window and onto my kitchen floor.

Atleast he didn't knock over my pasta.

"What do you need, Black-Star?" I said, grabbing an ice pack from the freezer and placed it on his steaming hand. Black-Star coughed, shook his head and stood up proudly.

"As my disciple, I have chosen _YOU_, to accompany me on a very important mission." Black-Star said, puffing his chest out.

"You're no God, you're a bully." I pouted, remembering how he laughed at my meister. My sweet little meister, who never did or said anything bad about anyone.

"Well uh..even I _might_ make a mistake once every decade or so." Black-Star said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "But with this mission, I shall show everyone how brave and protective the God BLACK-STAR is of his friends. I will revive your faith in your God, ME!"

"...What the hell are you talkin' 'bout?" I asked, picking up my pot and straining my pasta in the kitchen sink.

"Tomorrow, after class.." Black-Star started, a serious twinkle in his dark eyes. That wasn't a good look. I better squish this little mission plan that he has before I get sucked into it.

"Maka's showing me around campus after class. Crona would have taken me, but he's only been here a few weeks." I said, trying to weasel my way out of one of Black-Star's crazy schemes that Maka warned me about. Black-Star sighed, rolling his eyes and waved his hand at me.

"Then after your little play date with Maka, our mission begins!" Black-Star said, flexing his arm muscles and striking a pose.

"W-what mission?" I asked, letting my curiosity peek as I took a seat at my kitchen table after pulling out a chair for Black-Star to settle down in.

"Maka got hurt a few weeks ago." Black-Star said in a sad tone. "That's why every so often she has to go to the health office, and some days she even has to stay in bed. She's been spending most of her nights in the health office."

"I had noticed..I just assumed she had a bad immune system or something." I said, remembering all the times that Maka never showed up for classes or when Soul would drag her out of class in a big hurry as soon as she started coughing or shivering.

"That's because this big gang of thugs run by an ugly old Witch hurt her really badly." Black-Star scowled, his black eyes turning a shade of teal. "We're gonna go get revenge."

"They hurt Maka!" I cried, standing up and feeling my blood start to boil and my hands start to twitch. Even though I'd only been in Death City for about a week and a half, I'd become connected to the group of strange friends, mostly with Maka, Liz, and Crona.

"Those bastards!" I screamed after taking a few deep breaths, trying to control my outburst.

"So you're with me?" Black-Star asked, a large grin on his face as he stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Always." I smiled, throwing caution to the wind and shaking his hand. Black-Star thanked me for my help and left out of my kitchen window just as quickly as he came, and left me with a jerky, over-excited feeling.

Why didn't he just leave through the front door?

Would I tell Crona? Probably not. If we were going to be fighting, Crona and I might not be able to fight real opponents just yet. I'd be better off by myself this time, after all, I've been fighting by myself for years.

Finding that I wasn't hungry for my dinner anymore, I wrapped up my pasta, took a shower, and went to bed.

* * *

After class, I found myself waiting for Maka by the entrance of the school. Other students were coming and going, but I didn't catch a glimpse of dirty blonde pigtails. I sat down on the front steps, deciding I should just sit through the wait. Maka wouldn't forget me, would she? Worse comes to worst, I'll just head home and wait for Black-Star and Tsubaki to come over so we can get a start on our mission.

"Excuse me?"

Turning around, I saw a boy that was in a few of my classes. He had chopped blonde hair, pale skin and a gorgeous pair of seafoam green eyes. He was wearing a plain white shirt with purple checkered pants, and was standing right behind me.

"Yes?" I asked, standing up and straightening my jeans. I forgot this blonde guy's name, but I'd guessed that he was the class punching bag. The other students would get him to get food for them, or try out their new attacks on him like he was a training dummy. I'd always felt bad for him, but whenever I went to go talk with him, he was charging head on into another of the tasks the other students had given him.

"Hi, Maka was feeling sick, so she sent me to be your guide replacement. It's a special job that only I could do." The boy said, puffing out his chest much like how Black-Star does.

"I'm Hesper, thanks for agreeing to show me around for Maka." I said, holding out my hand for the boy to shake.

"I know, we're in advanced history together. I'm Hiro." Hiro said, shaking my hand. He turned around and started walking us back into the school. He took me through a seemingly long and twisted hallway, most of the rooms were class rooms.

"This is only the first floor." He said. "This is mostly where the necessary classes are. The second floor holds the medical rooms, teachers rooms and some of the creative classes. The top floor is the Death Room and Lord Death's room and the Library." Hero said, pointing to one of the large, black, spiral staircases.

Great..more stairs.

"What about downstairs?" I asked, looking up at Hiro.

"Eh..It's complicated. The basement is composed of three different sectors. Some student rooms, the dungeons, and a large sector that's off limits." He said, scratching his head as he tried to bring us away from the long, twisted, black iron spiral staircase.

"Isn't it a little...dangerous for students to be so close to the dungeons?" I asked, feeling a little skeeved out. I feel for those poor students down there, who knows what would happen if any of the criminals down there broke out.

"There's a 24-7 guard watch in the dungeons." Hiro tried to calmed me, patting my shoulder as he quickly lead us back outside.

"That's good, I suppose." I mumbled, wondering why he pulled us away from the bottom floor so quickly.

"How are you liking Death City?" He asked, just as we exited out from the large, skull shaped front doors. The heaving sun was just going down, the air just a little cooler than normal. Hiro and I sat along the edge of the cement arm rail, looking over the dimming city. I really didn't know how to answer Hiro. Sure I liked Death City, but I miss my home.

"I..it's nice..You live here too?" I said stupidly, making Hiro laugh. I blushed, covering my cheeks with my hands. I wasn't so great at conversating with new people, I tended to just have multiple mind-farts and say stupid things.

"I do go to school here, so of course I live here. But I get what you mean, I'm from New York." He said, patting my back.

"R-really!?" I asked, turning back to face him. "What part?"

"Albany. You? I assume you're from there by the way you lit up." He laughed, smiling widely.

"I was born in Troy, right by Albany, but then we moved a few years ago to Brooklyn." I said, hi-fiving my new New York friend.

"Such a small world." He said, smiling out at the sunset.

"You can say that again." I smiled, looking down at my phone to see the time. "I gotta bounce, I promised Black-Star I'd help him with something in an hour. See ya in history?"

"See you in history." Hiro said. I quickly gave him a hug goodbye and sped off to my house.

* * *

"You never said we'd be walking all the way to this goddamn place.." I grumbled to Black-Star, who was happily leading Tsubaki and I through the woods. The weather wasn't too humid out, so I couldn't complain too much.

"Hey, the train took us most of the way." Black-Star defended his crappy planning skills.

"Sure." I said, choosing to just agree with him rather than fight with the lunatic. Tsubaki sent me an embarrassed and apologetic look, but I just smiled at her. Black-Star suddenly stopped and signaled for Tsubaki and I to hide in the bamboo around us. I crouched down next to Tsubaki and peered around the thick, green stalks.

"So this is the place." I said, eyeing the plain looking building. Black-Star told me it was a Witch's lab. Why the hell would a Witch have a lab? A Witch's lair, sure, a Witch's lab, no way. It had a rather boring look to it, nothing screamed "Hey, an old, haggy, bitchy Witch is in here." Two guards were stationed outside, and were wearing white masks with multiple holes.

"One for you, one for us." Black-Star said, nodding to Tsubaki who transformed into his hands. "If you can handle that." He teased, sending me a smirk.

"Of course." I smiled, taking a deep breath and readying myself for action.

* * *

"Soul Eater Evans, Maka Albarn, Crona Gorgon, Death the kid, Liz Thompson, and Patty Thompson, please report to the Death Room." A loud voice said over the loud speaker.

That's when Maka knew something was wrong.

Everyone ran to the Death Room, even though Maka had to drag a shivering Crona down the hallway of sharpened guillotines. The group burst into the Death Room, seeing Lord Death and Maka's Papa looking into the large mirror with worried glances.

"Ah, hi, hi, hi everyone. Whazzup?" Lord Death asked, his voice high and squeaky as ever. Kid sighed, shaking his head at his Father's antics, but stayed silent.

"You called us?" Soul asked, glancing at the enlarged, television like mirror. "No way.."

"Is that Hesper, Black-Soul, and Tsubaki?" Liz asked as the whole group stepped closer to the mirror, taking seats on the floor like they were about to watch a movie. Lord Death sighed, slumping to the floor by his short table and somehow taking a sip of his tea through his mask.

"Yes. Just outside Arachnophobia's lab." The Grim Reaper said, sparing another glance at the mirror.

"WHAT?!" The students screamed, watching three of their friends crouch in the bamboo.

"Are they asking for a death wish?" Soul asked, his red eyes wide as he watched Black-Star and Hesper slowly creep upon the unsuspecting guards.

"They won't get through the front doors, but that's not our only problem. Sid and his partner are in there right now, and those three might compromise their mission." Spirit said, crossing his arms over his chest. Lord Death sighed again, but shook his head.

"Or they'll make an excellent distraction. Besides, have faith in our smallest students." Lord Death laughed, pointing out how the two shortest students in the academy also had the biggest cojones to go headfirst into a witches lair.

"What do you mean, Lord Death?" Maka asked, gripping her knees tightly. "It's true Black-Star is powerful, but he's also over confidant. And Hesper seems competent, but she doesn't have Crona."

"You forget, meister Maka." Lord Death said, turning back towards the mirror. "That Hesper has been meisterless for years. She has already collected twenty-six kishin souls by herself, and has a laundry lists of attacks that she can execute without a meister." Lord Death put down his tea cup and lent all his attention to the watching mirror.

"I assume we were called here to watch their beating?" Professor Stein said, entering the Death Room unannounced. Spirit and all the student's jumped at the sound of his voice, but Lord Death just greeted him jovially.

"Just to observe, Stein. Crona?" Lord Death asked, turning to the once-Demon Swordsman.

"Y-yes?" Crona squeaked, still afraid of Lord Death because of how he banished Ragnarok. Crona knew Lord Death did it to help him, but it hurt horribly. Lord Death had ripped Ragnarok from his body using some sort of spacial magic, and then drained most of his body of the black blood. Crona hated the feeling of having almost no blood in his body, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

"How does it feel to have Hesper as your partner?" Lord Death asked, tilting his head. Shivering, Crona began to sweat. Suddenly, he felt Maka's hand in his, and he started to calm.

"I-I..I think she's nice. She..she's a good weapon. She's funny. S-she said she..she was gonna cook dinner for me..b-because I'm too skinny." Crona answered honestly, watching his weapon worriedly through the mirror. In the week and a half that they'd been partners, their bond had grown quickly, yet firmly. The two were fast growing friends and confidants, but they still had more to share.

"Are you surprised that she when on a very dangerous mission without you?" Death asked.

"..Yes. We're supposed to tell each other everything." Crona answered sadly, tilting his head down. Maka squeezed his hand, making him lift his head up and smile. Maka was proud of Crona, she knew how hard it was for him to answer questions.

The students watched as Stein, Spirit, and Lord Death all looked at each other with matching worried expressions. The adults turned their attention to the two students in the mirror who looked like they were about to start their attack.

* * *

_"Black-Star." Hesper whispered, her voice sounding a little quaky over the mirror. "How many souls do you see past them?"_

_"None, I can't see souls. Neither can Tsubaki." Black-Star said, eyeing the two guards. Hesper's eyes widened and then a large smile grew on her face._

* * *

"Why is she smiling? It makes a mission harder if Black-Star and Tsubaki can't see souls." Soul said, narrowing his eyes.

"She knows now they can't sense souls. So she's going to unlock hers from Soul Protect." Stein said, taking a cigarette out of his lab coat pocket. Lord Death nodded his head in agreement, interested in the upcoming fight.

"What?" Soul asked, all of the other student's stunned into silence.

"U-unlock from Soul Protect..she's a Witch?" Kid asked, eyes huge as he shot a glance towards his father. He couldn't believe his father willingly let a Witch into the academy. She must have tricked them, that's right. Kid knew that anyone that asymmetrical was evil. Kid felt his chest burn in anger, after all the self-control he's used to be friendly to Hesper, despite her physical appearance, only for her to turn out to be a Witch. Hesper was a sweet, talkative, sometimes sarcastic girl, but never once had Kid thought she was evil until now..he was actually starting to think..

Kid shook his head, he couldn't be having thoughts like this about this asymmetrical lair.

Crona was frozen in fear, could his sweet, little partner really be an evil Witch like his "mother". Crona's met many Witches in his life, each were cold, heartless and mean. Hesper was nothing like that, she always went out of her way to see, talk, or be by Crona's side. Always carrying around snacks in her bag, all because in her own words: "Crona, you look skinny enough to snap." All Crona could do was shake and hope someone was playing a cruel joke on him.

"No..far from it. Hesper comes from a very rare bloodline, much like Tsubaki. Miss Daley isn't a Witch, but she isn't a human either. Just watch, kids." Lord Death said, cocking his head as Black-Star ran out into the open first, scaring the poor guards.

"Maka, Kid, what do you to see?" Professor Stein said, adjusting the screw in his head. Taking two equal, deep, cleansing breaths, Kid and Maka focused on Hesper's soul.

"It's just a normal soul." Maka said, looking at the little blue soul. It didn't look like much, pretty much like a little ball with a huge smiley on it.

"Keep watching." Stein said, concentrating on Hesper's soul as well.

* * *

_Hesper bent down back into the bush and brought her hands to her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath._

_"Soul Protect-Unlock."_

* * *

The quick change of her soul make Kid and Maka jump. Her soul was just as large as Black-Stars, and was a bright teal green. The soul had the same large smiley on it that the fake soul had, but this soul had two little devil-like horns. The teal green soul didn't read like a normal human soul, and neither meister knew what kind of soul it was, but at least it wasn't a Witch's soul.

"W-what is she?" Kid asked.

* * *

_Hesper lept from the bamboo, taking on one of the masked guards as Black-Star and Tsubaki took care of the other._

_"Soul Pulse." Hesper snarled, taking her right hand and curling her middle finger, ring finger and pinky into her palm. She stuck her pointer finger out and her thumb up to make a gun shape with her hand. The veins in her hands began glowing teal._

_"Bang." She growled, a bullet of teal green shot out of her finger tip, just like a real gun. The guard was sent flying into the nearest bamboo stalk, unconscious. Black-Star threw his enemy to the ground, blood seeping through the holes in the guard's mask._

_"Keep on coming. We'll tear every single one of you to pieces." Black-Star growled, staring into the large, shadowed entrance of the Witch's __lab._

* * *

"We have to stop them. If they go any further they might come face to face with that creepy Witch." Liz said, picking at the hem of her jeans. Lord Death hummed, but shook his head.

"Sid, Azusa, and Nygus are in scene. They'll make sure neither of those two gets blown to bits." Spirit said, watching the shadowed entrance. Everyone tensed as a tiny, old man wearing a top hat and a tux was suddenly at the front steps.

* * *

_"My..what lively young guests we have here." The old man said, just as a cute little girl wearing a chameleon hat stepped out from behind him. She was just as short as the old man, with big burgundy eyes and cute, choppy brown hair. _

_"That girl...I know that girl." Tsubaki said, floored that the little girl was here._

_"A Witch?" Hesper questioned, seeing the small purple soul within the girl. She knew that all Witches were young at one time, but she had never seen such a cute and tiny one. The little Witch gasped, stepped forward and pointed a gloved hand towards Black-Star._

_"You guys again?" She asked, tilting her head. The sound of something being dragged across cement made the two students tense, straining their eyes to see in the shadows. Hesper took a deep breath and let her soul flex, showing off her power to whoever or whatever was coming their way. _

* * *

"F-Father..her soul." Kid said, watching the strong flux of Hesper's soul.

"Hesper is readying herself for the upcoming fight." Lord Death said, patting Kid's head and mussing his hair. "Don't worry, your little girlfriend is fine, Kiddo."

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! SHE'S TRASH, ASYMMETRICAL TRASH!" Kid screamed, beginning to thrash angrily on the floor like a dying fish. Liz and Patty started to comfort their meister, but it didn't seem to be working all that well. Lord Death grunted, rolling his eyes behind his mask and ignoring his son's antics. Crona huffed, clenching the material of his robe angrily. He didn't like how Kid was disrespecting his weapon, it wasn't like anyone in the world was perfectly symmetrical, including Kid.

"A samurai.." Patty said, stopping her slapping assault on Kid's back and alerting the others in the room of a new figure in the mirror.

* * *

_A man had appeared besides the small man and the little Witch. He was very tall, wearing jeans and a plain cream shirt. His long, pale hair was straightened and he was dragging a large container filled to the brim with swords. He was chewing on a long, dried out stick, and looked at Black-Star in irritation. _

_"This guy again." Black-Star tensed, the blue hairs on the back of his next raising. Hesper looked to Black-Star, raising a brow. _

_"You know this guy?" She asked, bending low in a defensive crouch. _

_"We've faced him before." Tsubaki answered her, bewildered by the samurai's appearance. "It's the samurai, Mifune. Why are you in this place?" Tsubaki called out to the lean samurai._

_"Why? I'm here doing my duty. My sword is sworn to protect little children like the Witch Angela, but you two are also young children. Why are you here? Blue one, what are you doing standing against me again?" Mifune asked, tilting his head. Hesper's nostrils flared, smelling the air. Was that candy she smelled? _

_"Is there a problem? You come with me, Miss Angela." The old man said, taking the little girl by the hand. The little Witch seemed confused, but it was all very clear to Hesper. The samurai was being held here because this old man was threatening Angela. _

_"That's interesting." Black-Star said, seemingly seeing the same situation as Hesper was. _

_"If you're interested in protecting her, why are you here with such dangerous people." Hesper challenged, taking a brave step forward. Mifune didn't say anything, just narrowed his brown eyes in the old man's direction._

* * *

"Lord Death, who's that little shrimp?" Liz asked, creeped out by the big nosed old man.

"That's Mosquito, one of the Witch's loyal minions." Lord Death said, attention set on the TV-like mirror and watched as the samurai unsheathed the sword from his side, pointing it towards the two students.

"Is he really holding that Witch up for ransom?" Maka asked, watching the old man carefully.

"Most likely not. Mifune is probably using Arachnophobia's power to keep Angela safe. Most places are not to...fond of Witches." Lord Death said, watching the small girl sadly.

* * *

_"Get ready. Let's go: Infinite Sword Attack." Mifune said, throwing the case of swords in the air, the blades sent flying into the sky before plummeting down to Earth and piercing the ground. Just as the swords hit the dirt, Mifune began sprinting towards them. _

_"Imp Iris." Hesper called, her mismatched eyes both turning white and large white energy balls appeared in her hands. Though similar to her other attack, these white energy balls weren't flash bombs, these were actual explosives made of magic. The bombs struck their target and Mifune clutched his shoulder in pain, but quickly pulled himself together._

* * *

_"_Magic..she's using magic." Maka whispered, narrowing her eyes to watch the fight closer.

"I though only Witches could use magic." Liz said, watching the little blonde begin to pelt the samurai with her bombs. Mifune was just too fast and was able to find a pattern in her movements, making most of her attacks become misplaced.

"No, Blair can use magic too, remember? She's not a Witch either." Maka said, referring to the sluttish cat-woman that had invaded her home. "Maybe she's an Imp, she keeps saying that with her attacks."

"Nice observation, Maka. That's only half true, Hesper's half Imp." Professor Stein said, adjusting his screw until there was a loud click. "I wonder if she'll show us the power her other half gives her."

"Is she half Witch?" Patty asked, tilting her head to the side. Crona once again flinched, grabbing Maka's hand for some kind of comfort.

"Nope, there's no Witch in her blood." Lord Death said, making Crona take another relaxing breath. "Actually, the other half of her bloodline is the Witch's most dangerous natural enemy."

"A..ah..R-Reaper?" Crona asked, trembling slightly. Lord Death shook his head.

"Nope, a Reaper is a natural enemy to the Witch, but there is one bloodline that is more frightening to a Witch than a Reaper. A Mage." Lord Death said, patting Maka's head gently.

"A Mage? I've never heard of one of those." Kid said, tilting his head at the mirror.

"I-I don't know if I can deal with this." Crona whispered, curling into Maka's side in fear and confusion. Was a Mage bad? They couldn't be if Hesper was one.

* * *

_Mifune knocked Hesper out of the way with the handle of his sword as she tried to throw her bombs at the swordsman from a close range. As she hit the ground, the samurai snagged one of his grounded swords with the top of his foot and swung it at Black-Star, who blocked and tried to punch the side of his head. _

_"Blocking my sword and then immediately counter attacking. I can tell you've improved. Maybe I was wrong, perhaps you're not a child anymore." Mifune negged Black-Star, shoving his balled fist away. _

_"DON'T MESS WITH ME!" Black-Star threatened, taking a swing at Mifune while Tsubaki was in Ninja Sword mode. Mifune quickly lunged away and put some space between himself and the two students. Hesper coughed, spitting out dirt and getting to her knees. _

_"Mage Mix Mage Macrophobia." Hesper hissed, wiping dirt from her mouth. A gust of wind came from the bamboo forest and suddenly...Hesper had vanished. Mifune and Black-Star seemed shocked at the disappearance, but then Black-Star smirked.  
_

_"Don't mess with me or my disciples." Black-Star smirked, sensing a shift in the air beside him. So Hesper was still there, but invisible? Black-Star might not be able to see souls like Maka, but his assassin skills meant he had heightened senses. _

_"Where did the girl go?" Mifune asked himself, picking up another of his swords. Out of nowhere, Hesper appeared in the air behind him, her left leg had morphed into her Guan Dao blade. Quickly kicking her leg down, Hesper managed to cut Mifune lightly before he spun away. _

_"You talk a big game, but I've beaten you once before and I can do it again." Black-Star said, smiling at the samurai. _

_"**You never beat him, stupid**. Mifune's always nice to kids, no matter what. He'd never fight seriously against a dumb little kid like you." The Witch Angela howled over, holding onto the tiny, old man's hand. Her big burgundy eyes were full of innocence, even as she looked at Black-Star with a look of pure patronization. _

_"What kind of man is he?" Tsubaki asked, her eyes wide as she watched Mifune through one of her blades. _

_"You shall not show any mercy, is that understood?" The little old man said, sneering at the samurai._

* * *

"Witches and Mages were created in the same millennia as Reapers. Beings that share Mage blood, but are not full blooded Mages are often called Mix Mages. That's a large group that can be broken down into other categories, such as : Humans, Demons, Reapers, etcetera." Lord Death said, taking another sip of tea.

"And since she's half Imp, she's an Mage Imp technically, right?" Liz questioned, watching the blonde dust herself off and her leg to change back to normal.

"They're called Imp Mages actually. Hesper's mother is an Imp, and her father was a Mage." Spirit said, watching the fight closely.

"Was?" Crona whimpered, looking towards the Death God. Lord Death sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Her father was killed fighting a rouge Reaper." Spirit said, shaking his head. "As you all may or may not know, there are exactly twenty-one Reapers that work under Lord Death, three on each continent. The old Reaper placed in the Northern United States had gone awol and started killing Human's for their souls."

"H-how could a Reaper do that.." Patty asked, holding onto Liz. "Kid, you told us Reapers are meant to protect human souls."

"In every race of beings, there are good souls and there are bad souls." Lord Death answered for his son, shaking his head sadly.

"Hesper's father was a great Mage, and was sent after the rouge. He was killed taking that same rouge down." Spirit said sadly, his head tilting down before he sprung back up, his eyes having morphed into big, pink hearts. "But Hesper's mother is absolutely gorgeous! All Imp and all hot babe! Now that I think about it, her daughter is a looker, just like her mama!"

"MAKA CHOP!"

"REAPER CHOP!"

Spirit went down like a tree trunk, clutching the twin bumps on his head with tears rolling down his face in pain.

"Pedophile." Maka huffed, sticking her thick book back into her backpack and sitting back down next to Soul. Lord Death huffed at his scythe's antics and went back to sipping on his cooling tea.

* * *

_"You may be a child,but I won't let myself fall to the same opponent twice." Mifune said, spinning his sword. _

_"Tsubaki, kusari gama mode." Black-Star ordered, the Ninja Blade mode in his hand quickly changing into a chained dual kusari gama. _

_"I'll just use your own sword against you." Black-Star laughed, throwing one of his blades onto a bamboo stalk and yanked the chain, uprooting and sending a sword spinning into Mifune's direction. The samurai didn't bat an eyelash and caught his sword in mid-spin with his wounded arm. Irritated, Black-Star chucked the other heavy blade at the samurai, but he quickly dodged. _

_"Imp Impale." Hesper whispered, narrowing her mismatched eyes at the ground beneath Mifune's feet. A large, white spike burst from the ground, piercing Mifune's already heavily damaged arm. Multiple white spikes began popping up around Mifune, but he was able to evade them all but the first, and the last that scratched his back. _

_"YOU'RE STILL MINE!" Black-Star screamed, pulling on his chains causing both scythes to cleave at Mifune's ankles. The samurai jumped, stepping onto one of his swords and grabbing another in his hand. _

_"Three path shot." Mifune said, throwing the swords to stick between the links of the chains, trapping Tsubaki to the ground. Black-Star tried to pull for his blades, but they had gotten stuck in Hesper's spikes. _

_"Black-Star!" Tsubaki warned, seeing Mifune come running towards Black-Star by running atop his swords, grabbing one out of the ground to use to cleave Black-Star's huge head off his shoulders. Black-Star evaded the first swing, and Hesper came back into the fight, her left arm now morphed into the blade of her Guan Dao. _

_Mifune knocked Black-Star away with his sword, swinging at Hesper right after. Hesper was cut across her chest and reeled back slightly in pain Mifune snagged one of the swords placed behind him and smashed the handle against Hesper's temple. Hesper's mismatched eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground with a loud 'thump'. _

* * *

"Hesper!" Crona yelped, crawling closer to the mirror. Maka scooted along with the pinkette, holding onto his shoulders for his emotional support. The blonde was now slumped to the ground, once again face first in the dirt. The same time she did, Black-Star fell onto his ass.

"He wouldn't kill them." Stein said, turning the screw in his head. "His soul is pure, patient, kind, and filled with the love of children."

"Yes...this Mifune seems like a good character." Lord Death said, rubbing the chin of his mask.

"Is...is she.." Crona whimpered, sighing in relief as the blonde forced herself onto her elbows. Crona felt relief flood through him knowing that his new weapon was alright. Paranoid, Crona knew that he felt someone's eyes on him. Peering out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kid watching him very closely, with a somewhat...constipated look on his face.

* * *

_Mifune stood above Black-Star, and raised one of his many swords over his head. _

_"Go-Smoke bomb mode!" Tsubaki said, giving Black-Star enough cover to snag Hesper and bounce into a safe zone. Hesper was slowly coming to, holding her aching head. Groaning, she wiped her temple with the back of her hand, and it came away bloody. Her chest wound was shallow, but was slowly dripping blood. _

_"Thanks for that Tsubaki..now..Enchanted Sword mode!" Black-Star growled, becoming surrounded by black electricity. Black marks appeared on his face like tattoos and Tsubaki's blade turned black. _

_"LET'S GO!" Black-Star shouted, taking a lunge at Mifune, who easily blocked the cut. A snake of black energy appeared beneath Black-Star's feet, and the boy's eyes suddenly became engulfed in white. _

_"SHADOW STAR!" Black-Star screamed, focusing all his energy in this one attack. The black snake grew, winding around Black-Star and started swinging it's blade like tail at Mifune at lightning speed. Hesper gasped, managing to get to her feet and watching Mifune block every single one of Black-Star's strikes. _

_"Infinite Sword Attack." Mifune said, escaping Black-Stars attack. Black-Star's eyes widened, and he was to shocked that Mifune actually got away from his attack to block. _

_"One sword." Mifune said, swinging his sword. Black-Star was now weak, but was able to block the first hit. _

_"Two sword!" Mifune said, striking at Black-Star's legs. Black-Star screamed, unable to block. _

_"Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve Sword!" Mifune yelled his next attack, sticking Black-Star with multiple swords. _

_"STOP IT!" Hesper screamed, trying to run towards the two, but stumbled. Falling on the ground, too dizzy from the hit to the head, Hesper desperately tried to shake herself into standing._

* * *

"She might have a concussion by how hard that samurai hit her." Stein said, watching Black-Star. "But Black-Star's condition will be far worse."

"We have to stop this!" Maka whispered, fearing for her friend's lives. Crona was trembling beneath her hands and everyone was watching the large mirror worriedly.

"Maybe if she stays down, the samurai won't hurt her anymore." Kid whispered, his eyes trained on the small girl. Her temple and her chest wounds were bleeding pretty badly, and she was shaking, but Kid couldn't tell if she was shaking in anger, pain, or fear.

"W-why do..do you care!" Crona cried, shakily looking towards Kid with tears in his eyes. "Y-you..you would want her..her dead! You s-said it yourself, you..you thin-think she's trash! G-go to Hell!"

Everyone gasped at Crona, big tears in his pale purple eyes and his shoulders began shaking. With a few big huffs of air, the pinkette began to cry loudly.

"Oh, Crona." Maka whimpered, wrapping her arms around him. Liz and Patty came over, joining Maka and Crona in a big group hug. Kid sat there, his mouth wide opened in shock, after all, Crona barley spoke at all, let alone told someone off before.

"I..I'm sorry, Crona." Kid said, scratching the back of his head shamefully. He shot another look at the mirror, seeing that the small girl had forced herself to stand. Kid felt himself flood in shame because of the way he treated her.

Kid couldn't do anything now except watch and hope for the best.

* * *

_"Punishment." Mifune whispered, grabbing one last sword and began to strike all the swords twice that he'd stabbed Black-Star with. Black-Star's body flinched at every strike of Mifune's blades, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. _

_"Twenty-four blows tota-" Mifune said, stopping his attack and dropping his sword._

_But he made a mistake. Mifune had dropped his weapon and had wandered out farther than any of his swords were, making him exposed. Hesper took the chance opportunity to deal an attack of her own. _

_"IMP IVY!" Hesper screamed, running towards Mifune. Confused, Mifune was about to run back to his swords, but something was keeping him grounded. Looking down, he noticed long, glowing, white vines were growing from the ground and keeping him in place. Hesper rushed to him, punching him across the face. Blood shot out of he samurai's split lip, raining over Hesper. _

_"IMP IMPLODE!" She screamed, wrapping her arms around Mifune's neck, like she was going to hug him. Her skin began to glow white, the white over taking her whole form, except for her eyes. Mifune's eyes grew wide. _

_"THREE, TWO, ONE!" Hesper screamed, holding onto Mifune as her body turned into pure white energy, and imploded._

* * *

"S-she...she just blew herself up." Soul said, eyes wide. "That's..not cool."

"No..no..no..no!" Crona began to cry harder, rocking back and forth.

"No! I swear..I'll never pick on her again..just..just make her be okay.." Kid whispered, watching the mirror with large eyes. Lord Death snorted, cocking his head.

"Calm down." Lord Death said, making the mourning group snap their heads up. "Do you really think Miss Daley would really have a self-destruct button? She turned her whole body into one of her magic bombs, but it's..sort of like a non-suicidal self destruct. Every cell in her body fills with her magic energy, and quickly pushes it out like one big magic bomb. It uses alot of energy though."

* * *

_Mifune was burned very badly, most of his hair and clothes singed. Exhausted, he dropped to the ground in a heap, the white vines that held him in place having disappeared. Hesper let him go, her own body dropping to it's knees, weak and frail. _

_Tsubaki had morphed back to her human body and rushed over to Hesper, dragging her away from the half-conscious samurai and snuggling her beside Black-Star's body. _

_"Why would you waste the skills you have to help a Witch?" Tsubaki asked the wounded samurai, small tears in her eyes as she covered her two friends with her body. Mifune shakily started to stand, brushing away ash and burnt hair from his face. _

_"Damnit." Black-Star moaned, slowly sitting up. "She calls that not fighting seriously." He said, referring to what the Witch said about Mifune never fighting a kid seriously._

_"Why d-did you two come here? B-because this lab is run..by a Witch?" Mifune stuttered, using on of his swords to help him stand. _

_"That Witch is responsible for hurting our friend, we came to get revenge." Tsubaki said, trying to hold Black-Star down. Hesper started to slowly awaken, her eyes fluttering open every so often. _

_"I'm gonna punish her for what she did to Maka." Black-Star said, gently shaking Tsubaki off his arm and standing up. He shot one look to Hesper, but quickly turned his attention to to Mifune. _

_"No one hurts my friends and gets away with it. No one, you got that?" Black-Star said, nodding towards Hesper's beaten form on the ground. Black-Star was pissed before, now he was enraged. He came here to revenge a friends suffering, just to cause his newest friend pain? _

_"I see..sorry about that." Mifune said. _

_"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, there's no reason for you to apologize. I know you're a good man at heart, but a sword like yours shouldn't be defending this organization. You care about helping children and you have incredible skill, you'd fit in well at the academy. Why not become a teacher instead?" Tsubaki said, trying to reason with the tall samurai. Mifune spun around at Tsubaki's words, his eyes wide with shock. _

_"W-what? A..A teacher at the academy." Mifune said to himself, his eyes going wide like he was in la-la land. He shook his head, blushing at having shown his weakness to the students. "No..I could never do that. It's an impossible dream, the DWMA despises Witches. I could never bring Angela there and who would protect her if I don't." Mifune turned to look at his little Witch, who was waving erratically and calling his name. Mifune sighed and started to stare off into space again. _

_"What's wrong with you, Mifune? Go ahead and finish them off." The little man growled. _

_"Why? This battle has already been ended." Mifune answered without looking towards the old man. It seemed as if Mifune really didn't like this little man. _

_"The DWMA is our staunchest enemy, there's no reason to let these three live." The little man scowled, sending a dark look the samurai's way. _

_"If you do not take care of them I cannot guarantee the safety of Miss Angela." This made the samurai flinch and draw his sword once more. _

_"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" Black-Star shouted, taking an offensive stance. _

_"Black-Star, no." Hesper said, pushing herself up to sit. Tsubaki grabbed ahold of Black-Star's arms and held him back as Hesper tried to catch her breath._

* * *

"That last attack cost her about 90% of all her energy. Hesper's most likely exhausted. Same with Black-Star, that attack he took has weakened him considerably." Professor Stein said, cleaning his glasses with his stitched coat.

"Maybe it's time for Sid to grab them and get them out of there." Spirit said, looking to Lord Death. Lord Death nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Spirit, contact Azusa." Lord Death said, earning a nod from the red headed Death Scythe. Spirit scampered out of the room, but not after trying to hug Maka goodbye, but she just pushed him off.

"They'll bring them home, Crona." Liz said to the still upset pinkette, drying his tears with her thumbs. Crona nodded, sniffling and attempting to smile at the blonde.

* * *

_"Mifune, isn't this enough?" Tsubaki asked, standing in front of Black-Star. Mifune was silent, but he closed his eyes and rose his sword over his head and stepped infront of Hesper's crumpled form._

_"I'm sorry.." Mifune said, closing his eyes. Hesper's eyes widened, and Black-Star went to take the blow for her, when a large bullet swerved past them. The shot missed Mifune by milometers and Hesper had felt the shot fly past her face. There was a loud splatter, making the four look towards the entrance of the lab. _

_The little old man had been shot through the arm, his whole arm had been blown off. _

_"Mister Mosquito!" Angela screamed, looking utterly terrified as blood slathered over her form. Another shot was fired at the swordsman, but he deflected it with a spin of his blade. _

_"Another attack? Where's it coming from?" The old man, named Mosquito, shouted, holding his obliterated side. Hesper noticed that he had large fangs and that he hadn't died with half of his torso missing. Just as Hesper was about to take the change to grab the child-Witch and run for safety, the Witch's lab burst into flames. _

_"Mosquito! There are explosives everywhere, get out of here before you're injured." A man wearing that strange mask and a white lab coat pulled way over his head shouted, not noticing the missing chunk of man before him. _

_"More blood." Mosquito said grimly, turning to face the man, who upon seeing the old man's wound, withered like a dried flower. _

_"Miss Angela, come this way." Mosquito said, hurriedly ushering the little Witch around the side of the lab, where the roar of an engine was soon heard. Mifune glared in the old man's direction, and started to walk away into the bamboo forest. _

_"Hey, hold it. Let's finish what we started." Black-Star growled, stepping towards the retreating form of the samurai. _

_"Don't push yourself. You're strong, I'll give you that. Keep improving as you have been and you'll be fine. Try to understand the other presence within Tsubaki, the Enchanted Sword mode will work better for you that way. I know alot about swords, and you've got yourself a good one, kid." Mifune said, not bothering to turn around and face the trio. _

_"Yeah, I know." Black-Star said, Tsubaki's cheeks turning a deep pink. _

_"You, little hybrid girl." Mifune said, causing Hesper's mismatched eyes to widen. "Know when to fight, and know when to back down. Your soul is strong, but don't ever go anywhere without your meister again." Mifune said, peering over his shoulder. _

_"How..how did you know about my meister?" Hesper asked, had this guy been watching her? _

_"You have the look of a beloved weapon in your eyes. Your bond with your meister is new, but you trust him...no...you adore him. You have the beginning of an unbending loyalty. He's lucky to have you, loyalty and love are hard to find in this world." Mifune said, sending a small smile to the blonde. _

_"T-thank you, I'll remember that." Hesper whispered, smiling largely. _

_"That friend of yours that was hurt by the Witch, see that she gets this." Mifune said, digging around in the front pocket of his jeans. He grabbed a small ball of candy and tossed it in Black-Star's direction. Tsubaki, Black-Star, and Hesper looked at the foil wrapped candy in wonder, and when they looked back up.. _

_Mifune was gone. _


	4. Connect

Thanks to my lovely reviewers

(: Read and Review

This chapter has no Kid love :( But it does have Crona love (: Not love-love, but ya' know. The connection between meister and weapon will deepen and be given some depth and meaning in this chapter, so it's pretty important (:

* * *

The ride back to the academy was more than a little fuzzy I suppose. Sid and Nygus weren't too upset at us, but the cold woman named Azusa was in a pretty little fit over our mission. Azusa was a stern looking woman with angled, short black hair, and a pair of thickly rimmed glasses. She looked all work and no play.

I spent the majority of the ride back sleeping on Tsubaki's shoulder, so I didn't have to listen to Azusa drone on about responsibility and "thinking before we act" for that long.

By the time I'd woken up, I was in a cot at the health office. Nygus, the pretty woman wrapped in bandages, happened to be the school's nurse. It appeared that she hadn't been the nurse for long, and when I asked about the old nurse, the black haired woman froze a little and evaded the question. Besides the strange avoidance, Nygus is a very skilled nurse. I didn't need that much patching up, my chest wound was held with a few butterfly band aids, my temple was dressed with a large band aid, and my small burns were all covered in salve and bandaged as well.

"Thanks, Nurse Nygus." I said, smiling at the bandaged woman.

"No problem, Hesper. Go have a good day." She smiled, well..I suppose she smiled, I couldn't really tell with the bandages covering her mouth. I left the health office slowly, yawning and scratching the back of my head. Where would I go from here? I suppose I should go see Crona, since apparently everyone in the group now knows of our little mission thanks to Lord Death's magic "all seeing" mirror that Nygus had told me about.

I have no clue where to even find my meister, so I just started stumbling around the halls, hoping I'd catch a view of his pink head towering over the crowd of students. After going around the first floor of the academy twice, I decided a break was needed. I slumped against the wall of a deserted hallway and took a deep breath.

"Why.."

Slightly startled, I looked up to my left, where the sound of Crona's voice came from. The tall pinkette stood tall to my left, an upset look on his face and his fists trembling at his sides. I automatically knew that he was upset, and his 'why' was about _why_ I had gone on a mission with Black-Star.

"I..Black-Star invited me..I-I didn't think we were ready to go on a mission together." I was able to give my meager excuse, fiddling with my fingers and hoping Crona would sit down beside me. He didn't, he kept standing and looking me down.

"So..you thought you could handle a mission better on your own." Crona said, without stuttering for once.

"I..I just..didn't want the chance of you getting hurt. I would never want to risk loosing you on a revenge mission." I whispered up at Crona, his uneven bangs hiding his eyes.

"But you would risk yourself." It wasn't a question.

"For you, undoubtedly." I answered automatically, causing Crona to slump down next to me.

"W-why..?" Crona asked, covering his red face with his long hands.

"Because I'm your weapon, and I love you. I'd die for you, you must know that." I said, pushing his bangs away from his face.

"L-love..?" Crona asked, looking up at me with large, teary eyes. I nodded, feeling my own eyes tear up.

"We're partners, two halves of the same. You're my brother, my twin, of course I love you." I said, feeling tears to start rolling down. Crona began to sob, big tears running down his cheeks.

"I-I've never had a sister." Crona cried, rocking back and forth. "I've never had anyone tell me they love me. I d-don't know ho-how to deal with this!" He began to cry harder, covering his face.

"You never have to go without someone telling you anymore. I love you, no matter what." I said, wrapping my arms around Crona. Crona's arms quickly wrapped around me, the long limbs shaking. We sat like that together for a few moments, just holding each other.

"I hate to be the one to break this up, but I have a small project for you two."

Crona and I pulled away from each other slowly, looking up at Professor Stein, who was poking his head out of an open classroom. He wiggled his fingers at us for us to follow him, and with a few unsuccessful attempts to stand, Crona and I found ourselves in a dimly lit room, surrounded by candles.

"You two are going to assist me in a little experiment, but don't worry-it will benefit you both." Stein said, resting his arms on the back of his rolley chair. Crona and I shot each other worried glances, but nodded.

"I'm testing a new...technique of mine. I call it Mind Stitch." Professor Stein said, picking at the stitches along one of his fingers. "My soul wavelength can be morphed into sliver thin stitches..which I can use to attach your souls together for a short amount of time."

"Isn't that dangerous, one of our souls might try to over take the other? Souls aren't meant to be sewn together." I said, grabbing Crona's hand. Crona wasn't shaking, which surprised me, but he was watching Stein carefully. The Professor sighed, pushing his glasses to rest atop his head and rubbed the heel of his palm into his face. When he pulled his hand away, he looked like he'd aged in a matter of moments, dark circles more pronounced under his eyes.

"Listen, the danger of this experiment is what you two need to ah.."take one for the team", as the youngsters call it. Because of our seemingly multiplying foes, the DWMA needs all meister-weapon pairs as we can get our hands on. You two are needed. Crona, you and Hesper's power could be unstoppable if you two had as much time as the other partners." Professor said, fiddling with his fingers. I gave Crona another worried look, earning another intense stare from the pinkette.

"We'll do it." Crona answered, tightening his grip on my hand.

"A-are you sure?" I jumped. Crona turned to me again, the once scared looking boy had morphed into a strong, serious man. I automatically calmed at the intensity in Crona's eyes, knowing that Crona would never place us in a dangerous situation.

"Hesper?" Professor Stein asked, tilting my head as I bit my lip.

"If Crona says we'll do it, we'll do it." I said, nodding my head.

"The experiment is rather simple. You will see within each other's minds. See one another's lives, and hold each other's deep and darkest secrets. Can you handle this?" Professor Stein asked one last time. Once again, he earned two nods from Crona and I. Stein smiled, stepping towards us with open hands. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on each of our heads. I suddenly felt like Stein's hands were painlessly fusing with my head, creating a rather nice weightless feeling. I looked over towards Crona and saw that his eyes were closed and looking rather tranquil.

"Mind Stitch." Professor Stein said, squeezing our heads. Everything suddenly went blank, then a slow light started to shine, like a Broadway show that was slowly starting up.

* * *

Suddenly, I was nothing but a phantom.

Looking down at myself, I noticed that I was see-through. My body was nothing but a misty, almost chalky green outline, sort of like a ghostly wisp. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that everything I'm seeing was nothing more than Professor Stein's Mind Stitch and that I wasn't loosing what is left of my mind.

I was outside a large, white castle in the middle of what looked like the arctic tundra. The white brick of the massive castle was decorated with large, black arrows that I couldn't tell if they were painted on or they were a stone pattern. The sheer amount of white and the lack of life made me cringe, but I managed to catch the sight of the white doors of the castle opening for me. With a deep breath, I trudged on, entering the castle.

The inside was pure white.

Did some kind of purity lunatics live here?

The walls, textile floors, furniture, furnishings and everything in the castle was a bright white color. The color began to make me nauseous, making me squint my eyes every few moments. A small movement of black caught my attention. A medium sized, barefoot woman in black pants and a black hooded top, was walking down the hall.

Assuming that this was all an illusion, a peek at Crona's mind and memory perhaps, nothing could hurt me. I scampered up to the woman, seeing the strange tattooed dots on her arms and her serpent like eyes. Her hair was blonde, maybe a shade or two lighter than mine, her side bangs hanging down her cheeks like bonnet strings and braiding together at her chest. Whoever she was, she seemed emotionless, walking through the massive, white halls with a blank face.

Where is this lady going? I guess this must be her house by how leisurely she's strolling about the halls. She looked a little puffy, like she'd lost alot of weight recently, but still looked rather..round. The woman turn a quick turn into one of the many unlabeled doors, leaving it swinging open for me to sneak through.

Inside the small room, was a little cradle. A mobile of crescent moons, broomsticks, and snakes swayed over the baby's head. The cute little creature must have only been months old, the baby's eyes were a wide pale lavender and were filled with tears.

The blonde woman looked down at the baby, her pale yellow eyes looked hollow and emotionless. With a single, small sneer at the baby, the woman stalked out, locking the door behind her. I was left with the baby inside the now pitch black room, the baby still crying up a storm. A small ball of light appeared at my finger tips, allowing me to see what was carved into the wood of the crib.

'Crona Gorgon'

...My meister.

* * *

Another flash of white flashed across my vision, and something more horrid appeared before my very eyes as the white faded away.

It was a dungeon, a pure white dungeon.

Large black arrows dotted the walls, all pointing to a single hospital bed. The occupant of the bed, a year old baby, was strapped down. The babe was obviously scared, it's pale purple eyes bouncing around the room. Big, thick tears were pouring down the baby's face, the short pink hairs atop his head were dirty and knotted.

Then the woman appeared.

She was wearing a white lab coat this time, dragging behind her an IV drip that was filled with..black liquid. She stopped beside baby Crona, looking down at him and pulling a needle out of her pocket. Quickly sticking the needle into Crona's arm, she hooked a line into the vein, the other end of the line...going into a bucket beside the bed.

She was going to drain him of his blood.

Baby Crona began to scream, struggling as the small machine forcibly pumped his blood out of his body, through the line, and down into the bucket.

"MOMMY!" Baby Crona screamed, his little legs kicking against the bed. Just as the bucket was almost filled to the brim with the red liquid, the blonde woman pulled the line from his vein and inserted the black IV drip. Crona's eyes rolled into the back of his head as the black liquid began to froth into his veins.

The blonde woman, his mother, grinned, her eyes narrowing like a snakes.

"Yes...my precious black blood...make him strong." She hissed, hovering over her son like a viper.

How dare she. I felt myself fume, my fists shaking as they begged to swing in the direction of this bitch's face. How dare she call herself a mother, how dare she do this to her own flesh and blood.

Just before I thought I would snap, another flash of light covered my vision.

* * *

There was almost nothing in this room. A small huddling of blankets in the corner of the room and a single pillow. A small set of drawers for clothes, and what looked like a training toilet in the farthest corner of the room.

"M-mommy.."

And in the middle of the room sat a small, trembling pinkette.

Crona looked no more than maybe two or three years old. He was covered in filth and his hair looked oily and matted. His pale purple eyes were filled with frustrated tears.

The woman, his mother, sent a half hearten look in his direction. She pulled a few plastic baggies out of her pockets, and threw them at baby Crona's feet. It was food, a few sandwiches some water, and a few little snacks.

"FINALLY!" A loud, obnoxious voice yelped, seemingly out of no where. Something that looked semi human and semi punching doll had sprung from the top of Crona's back. The leach like being had black skin, white gloved hands, and large white eyes with an 'X' in the center to feign the pupil. A large white 'X' was across the creatures face, and the only feature on the face that was noticeable (besides those creepy eyes) was a large mouth.

Without another word, the door was slammed shut and locked.

"GODDAMN IT, CRONA!" The little black being shouted, taking his gloved hand and smashing down atop Crona's head. My shoulder's tensed as I watched my meister be beaten until he lay face down on the grimy floor, but there wasn't much else I could do.

"YOU COULDN'T JUST KILL THE LITTLE DRAGON, COULD YOU?!" The creature screamed, taking a bagged sandwich off the floor and eating half of it in one bite. Crona sighed, nuzzling his cheek against the ground like it was the only thing willing to give him comfort.

Another flash of white

* * *

Crona, no older than five years old, sat on the ground with a small sword in his hands. He was breathing heavily, a large, demented smile on his face. Crona was absolutely slathered in blood, and was rocking back and forth besides what looked like the remains of a little baby kitten.

"My child.." A voice hissed out of thin air, making my hairs stand on end. Out of thin air a man appeared, his skin was pale and his eyes were a strange shade of reddish purple.

"W-who are you?" Crona asked, giggling madly at the mirage of the man. It was easy to tell that the figure was a mirage or perhaps a spell, because he kept flickering in and out. The man smirked, tilting his head.

"My essence runs through your veins. My madness fuels your soul." The man said cryptically, making the crazed little pinkette laugh wildly.

"Asura."

All noise stopped as Crona's mother, the blonde in the back ensemble, appeared in the doorway. She didn't seem phased by the appearance of the pale, black and white haired man. The image of the man flickered for another moment, turning to the blonde.

"Medusa." The man, Asura, said, his form fizzling out quickly before reappearing. "So this is what you did with my DNA..you told me it was for an innocent experiment." The black and white haired man said softly, almost sadly as he peered down at Crona. Medusa shrugged, as if her own child's life meant nothing to her.

"It is innocent..for now." Medusa hissed, stepping back out of the room. Asura sighed, looking down at Crona once more. The tall man bent down on one knee, getting to the child's height.

"Crona..Do you know where hell is?" Asura asked, tilting his head. Crona's smile didn't falter, and it did scare me. Crona looked crazed, like he lost what mind he had in his little body.

"Hell is in your head, son." Asura said softly before patting his son's head and dispersing into thin air. The smile fell from Crona's face, and tears once again welled up in his eyes. Crona caught sight of all the dead animal corpses, and he fell to his knees and began to cry.

Timidly, I stepped forward and fell to my knees beside him. I tried to place my hand on his trembling back, but my hand went right through him. I felt tears start pricking my eyes, and thanked the Gods when another flash of white came.

* * *

Once again, blood covered the white walls and floors of what I assumed was Crona's room. Crona was now about ten years old and was being beaten by that monster that was protruding from his upper spine. Crona was nothing but skin and bones, curled into a ball as the creature beat him. Right before my eyes, Crona slowly began to age.

The tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and finally the seventeenth year old version of Crona was shown being continuously beaten. His hair grew longer, the dark smudges beneath this eyes grew darker, his limbs and body grew thinner and lankier.

"Crona. It is time." Medusa said, yanking open Crona's locked, bedroom door. Crona stood, nodding and the monster disappeared, only for a strange black sword to appear in his hands. Crona lifted the sword infront of him, and cringed.

"Screech Alpha."

A big pair of lips appeared on the sword, and both weapon and meister let out two ear piercing screams. I fell to my knees, covering my eyes as the wind whipped violently around me. So that creature in his body...that was his weapon? That one that was beating on him was his past partner. I felt liquid jealousy began to pump through my veins. Where was that little creature now? Was there any way he was going to try and take my meister away from me.

I focused on the scene at hand as the wind died down. Medusa began to laugh, clapping her hands in joy with a cursed smile on her thin lips. Crona let out a large, non-crazed smile, after all, it was the first time he'd made his mother smile.

* * *

Everything was silent at first, like someone had clicked 'MUTE' on the world.

I was inside a large, Italian looking church. The floor was colored with tiles of golden yellow and black, creating intricate zig-zag patterns in the flooring. I sniffed the air, smelling the stench of drugs and booze, but when I tried to move forwards, I found that I was chained to the floor.

Thick shackles were strapped to my ankles, anchoring me to the floor. I had somehow been changed into a flowing, golden dress that swept around me like a breeze. Huffing, I stamped my bare foot to the ground and finally took notice of the mob of roughians surrounding my meister. Crona murmured something, making the lips appear on his weapon, and scream. All the men cried, holding their ears.

"I feel like something amusing is happening." Crona said, the noise of the world re-appearing. "The doors here only open inward, they only open one way." He said, then the world went back to being silent. Crona's body bent backwards, his eyes listless as the stared to the ceiling.

The sound kept fizzing in and out, just like the Asura's figure had in the past memory.

"I know one thing..my blood is black." Crona said, the whole world going silent as he sprung into movement, slashing at the human's with the black blade of his sword. The fifty or sixty men that were once surrounding Crona, were now nothing more than piles of flesh and bone. Crona stood, not a speck of blood on him and held his sword high as the lips parted, sucking in the human souls.

Crona's making the weapon inside of him a kishin?

Then, the doors opened.

Maka?

Soul?

The world was still mute, but Maka took a defensive stance, Soul transforming into his scythe-form. I began to struggle against my binds. Why would Maka be defensive around Crona? Was this the first time that they met?

Crona began to hunch over in pain, clutching at his head in agony. He screamed silently, his back bending before bursting into a large stream of black blood, the black creature appearing upon Crona's upper back. The creature was ten times bigger and more muscular than before, but was just as violent to Crona. The creature began to dig his knuckles into Crona's skin, push his nose and pull his cheeks.

"You should know the hunting of human souls is strictly forbidden." Maka's voice poured over the soundless haze.

Everything happened so fast, like it was in fast forward.

Before I knew it, Soul was standing before Maka, his chest spewing blood as Crona stood over the pair.

"SOUL!" Maka and I screamed in tandem as Soul dropped to the ground. How could Crona do this? How could Soul and Maka be friends with Crona after he did something like this?

Another flash of light took over before my head started to pound.

* * *

Love.

I felt an overpowering amount of love.

It was as if a desert was finally meeting the refreshing sea side for the first time.

Looking up, Maka had Crona in a tight hug.

I felt like Crona's soul was being..cleansed somehow, all the abuse and horrors he's been through seemingly seeped out of his soul, pouring out of him.

I took a deep breath, my Crona was going to be safe.

* * *

"Now Crona, when you wake up, you will be in pain."

I was in the infirmary, wearing the same golden dress as I had been in the church. Crona was on one of the hospital beds, an IV steadily dripping into his vein. A myriad of doctors and nurses surrounded him, Professor Stein seemingly heading the room. Lord Death was standing by Crona's side, watching the pinkette through his mask.

"I-I...I'm ready." Crona shook, watching the nurse inject him with some medication to knock him out. Within moments, Crona's pale purple eyes slid shut, and he couldn't feel a thing. All the medical workers took a step back, giving Lord Death and Stein some space. Lord Death bowed his head, holding his hands together like he was in prayer.

"Reaper Cleanse."

The black blood began pouring out of Crona's noise, ears, mouth, and every other orifices like fountains. Nurses and doctors quickly got to work, catching the black blood in bed pans and hooking up blood transfusions. Lord Death slowly backed away from the twitching boy, his head bowed low. The Shinigami closed the door of the room behind him, and just outside Spirit, Maka's father and one of his Death Scythes waited for his word.

"Call for the girl, he'll need her." Lord Death told the red head, who went running down the halls.

"He won't be the only one who needs her.." Lord Death sighed, the tension in his shoulders seemingly slipping off.

I wonder what he meant by that?

* * *

**Crona's POV: **

I felt like I was floating.

I was completely see through, floating a few feet off the ground over a small bundle. I felt like a guardian angel as I hung in the air over this little baby when it began to cry, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

A man quickly came into the room, picking up the sobbing babe and cuddling the baby into his chest. The man was very tall, almost 6'0 and built like a line backer. There was a mane of blonde hair atop his head, almost like a lion's mane, and I couldn't help but notice that it was the same shade of blonde as Hesper's hair. The man's eyes were bright red, just like Hesper's right orb.

"H-Hesper's dad.." I whispered to myself, hunching over. If I was seeing Hesper's past, she must be seeing mine. Great, she's going to see all the blood I split, she's going to hate me, and I don't know how to deal with the possibility of that happening.

"Shh..Pepper, it's alright sweetie." The man said, rocking the baby back to sleep. "Daddy's got'cha."

I smiled softly as the baby version of my weapon yawned loudly, snuggling in her father's chest. A small noise made me look to the door, where two pairs of eyes peered into the room. A big pair of white eyes, and a smaller pair of red orbs waited in the dark.

"Daddy.." The pair of white eyes became a little red haired boy, the red eyes becoming a younger, blonde haired boy.

"Go back to bed Riften, you too Solitude. I'll be there to tuck you in as soon as Pepper gets all snuggled in." The father whispered, smiling down at his sons. They smiled, nodding and raced back to their rooms. The blonde haired man chuckled lightly, tucking his daughter into her pink sheets.

"I love you above all others." The man whispered into the baby's ear, and quietly walked out of the room. Was I supposed to follow him?

Gosh..I don't know what to do..

Just as I began to internally panic, a bright flash of white crossed my vision. At first I was worried that I was going blind, but the strange feeling of vertigo made me realize that I was being carried to the next scene.

* * *

I was brought to some kind of back yard. The back of a large, red brick house was behind me, and a large, fenced in yard was covered in different trees and flora. Happily, I sat down by a nice bush, noticing that I could smell all the flowers. Movement from the corner of my eye made me twitch a little bit.

A toddler Hesper was stomping around the backyard, her face red as she raced-fumbled over to a woman who was gardening beside me. The woman was very pretty, with waist length, blood red hair and pearly-white orbs.

"Mommy! I want some juuuuuuuuuuice!" The little weapon cooed, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. The red headed woman, apparently her mother, didn't respond.

"Mommy? Can I have some juice?" Little Hesper asked again, cocking her head. I began to lean in closer as the mother once again didn't respond to the little girl.

"MA'! CAN YOU COME HERE? I WANT SOME JUICE!" A voice from inside the house called to the mother, making her lift her head. That blonde haired boy from the first vision was there, standing by the back door.

"I'm coming, sweetie." The red head sang, pulling her gardening gloves off her dainty fingers. Hesper was left their in the dirt, after falling on her butt.

"M-mommy?" Hesper called to the retreating woman, but no attention was given to the blonde.

Frustrated and hurt, the little weapon began to cry. I cringed, wanting to reach out and hold her hand, but I knew it wouldn't do any good.

* * *

"No, no, no. Just...HOLD STILL." Hesper's mother shouted, buttoning up a worn, brown coat around Hesper's body. My little weapon looked about six years old, her blonde hair cut short, kind of like mine.

"It's tight, Mommy." Hesper complained, tugging at the fabric. Hesper's mother scoffed, rolling her eyes and jamming an old, purple hat over the blonde strands of her daughter's head.

"That's your brother's old coat, the only reason it's too tight is because you can't control yourself around food." The red head said rather coldly, making the little girl look down in shame. I was floored for a moment, this little girl was far from obese. Hesper was plump, but aren't all little kids a little plump?

"Did you even brush your hair this morning?" The mother tsk-ed, raking her fingers quickly through her daughter's hair. Once again, the mismatched eyed girl looked down, her chin touching her chest.

"C'mon, breakfast before school." The red head said, standing up and rushing to the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna go.." The blonde girl whispered, turning away from the kitchen, holding her tummy and began to walk out the door.

I felt my jaw clench, but once again, I couldn't do anything now.

* * *

"HESPER, WAKE YOUR UGLY, FAT ASS UP! YOUR FATHER IS HERE!"

I was now in a small room, where a sleeping Hesper laid curled up on a small bed. Hesper must have only been about nine years old, but she didn't look too much larger than she had in the last scene. The blonde stretched awake, giving me a nice view of all the bones that prodded against her skin. Even though she was just called ugly and fat, the blonde screamed happily, dashing out of the room and down a winding flight of stairs. I followed after her, watching her throw herself into the arms of the red haired man from the first vision.

"DAD!" Hesper screamed, wrapping her arms around her father's neck.

"Hey, Pepper." Her father laughed, hugging her tight. Hesper's mother watched the happy scene from the doorway with a scowl. Hesper's father glared right back at the mother, and since neither grown up was wearing a wedding ring, I guess they must have separated.

"I missed you." Little Hesper whispered, hugging her father tightly. I felt a little jealousy spark in my chest, but I quickly doused the feeling. I wish my mother and father or atleast one of them had ever hugged me like they missed me, or maybe happy to see me.

"I missed you too, these missions are getting tougher and tougher." Hesper's father said, lifting the little weapon into his arms and walked into the living room, sitting them down on a comfy looking sofa.

"But nothin' you can't handle, right Daddy?" Hesper asked, cocking her head to the side. Hesper's father laughed, scrubbing her head with the palm of his hand.

"Nothin's ever too much for your Daddy." He whispered, pressing a big kiss to Hesper's cheek. Hesper peered around, checking the doorway and making sure the duo were alone. I had no clue where Hesper's mother or brothers had gone off to, but the house was deathly quiet. Hesper nodded to herself, grabbing her father's long, blonde locks and tugging him down to whisper in his ear.

"I love you, lots! No matter what Mommy says.." Hesper whispered the secret, kissing her father's cheek. I saw tears well up a little in her father's red eyes, but he forced them down and wrapped his arms around his daughter.

"Just remember, I love you above all others. Some people aren't going to like me, you, or your brothers because of what we are. Remember, the people who matter won't care, and the people that care won't matter." Hesper's father whispered, pressing another kiss on his daughter's head.

"Are you sure, Daddy?" Hesper asked slowly, looking up at her father with big, mismatched eyes.

"I've never been more positive."

* * *

When my eye sight returned from the blinding flash of white, my normal black robe had been changed. I was wearing a strange, golden suit and was barefoot. I felt my feet wriggle against soft grass, and I wasn't sure how I would deal with all the germs getting on my feet.

When I heard crying, I looked up, and noticed that I was in a graveyard. The graveyard looked peaceful, more like a graceful pasture than a place to bury bodies. A large congregation of people were surrounding a single tomb, heads bowed low and dressed in black.

Hesper's mother was on her knees, sobbing over the tomb with reckless abandon. Her sons stood by her sides, silent tears tracking down her face. A small group of red haired people stood behind Hesper's mother, giving silent support. There was also a group of blonde people, who were standing on the opposite side of the tomb, grieving.

"Nanny.." I heard a teary voice whisper, so Hesper was here. Little ten-year-old Hesper was nestled in a young woman's arms, her eyes lidded and red. The woman was a redhead, and looked alot like Hesper's mother.

"Shh..let's go home..Daddy would be proud of you." The older woman, the one she called "Nanny", whispered, picking Hesper up into her arms and whisked her away.

I felt cold fear trickle down my spine as I closed in on the tomb. Carved into the beautiful, shimmering marble was the name:

"Perther Bog Daley: Loving Father, Son, and Guardian Angel."

Her father was dead.

* * *

Another fog of white cruised over my eyesight, making me take a deep breath. I don't think I could handle another heart breaking scene, but I knew Hesper was re-living my Hell, so I must see her's.

Thirteen-year-old Hesper was curled up on her bed, painting a strange, abstract shape. A shadow crossed the floor, and I turned to see Hesper's mother was standing in the doorway. Hesper jumped as soon as she caught sight of her mother, holding up her art work.

"Ma', I'm almost done with my painting!" Hesper said happily, holding the half finished painting over her head. Hesper's Mother didn't say anything, just crossed her arms over her chest. Hesper seemed to choke a little and quickly raced over to her desk that was against the far wall.

"I-I also finished my sketch for my ceramic project. I finished my sculpture project too, I just need to braise the wires together." Hesper started to rant, pulling out different sketch papers and holding them up hoping for some kind of response from her mother.

Sometime during her rant, Hesper's mother had walked away. Hesper sighed, but it wasn't a sad sigh. It was one of those 'oh well' sighs, as if her Mother often brushed her off. Silently, Hesper went back to her bed and began to sketch.

It was her father, fierce looking with red, glowing orbs and his blonde, lion like mane of hair. He was hunched over, his hands glowing a bright red. Beneath him, clawed hands were reaching up from the ground, like a zombie. Hesper finished the sketch with a tear in her eye and scribbled something at the bottom of the page before tearing out of the room.

"Perther, Lord Death's Demonic Mage."

D-demonic Mage?

* * *

When the flash took over my sight this time, it felt..different. When I could see, everything seemed..not right. I started to panic when I noticed that everything seemed larger and taller, and I had no clue how to deal with it. Looking down, I realized that I was in a girl's body, wearing a long cloak.

"Miss Daley, this is your classroom." The DWMA's secretary said to "me", ushering me towards the classroom. I must be in some kind of astral projection dream or something crazy. I felt Hesper nodding her head and walk into the classroom.

Through Hesper's eyes, I saw everyone. Maka, Soul, Black-Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Kid, and Patty. Everyone was peering down at "us" with interested and penetrating looks, trying to decipher Hesper's appearance. I saw Hesper looking around almost frantically, and I could feel her palms start to sweat.

"Hey. Which one of you is Crona?" She asked, narrowing in on my form, which was twitching slightly. Was I really that twitchy? I saw how pale my hand was as it clenched Maka's gloved one, and I looked utterly horrified.

Then I felt something, more accurately, I felt Hesper's emotions as she caught the first sight of me. I was expecting Hesper to have felt...scared, wary, and slightly let down by the sight of me.

I was wrong.

It was a bursting of emotions, too many to latch on and feel one at first. The first emotion I felt was elation, pure elation and the feeling of loneliness slowly dripping away from her soul. An excitement swept through her being, energizing her soul. Then the strongest emotions hit me, almost knocking me out of Hesper's body.

Love and protective instinct.

Unadulterated, pure, nonsensical, overpowering love shot through my soul from hers. The need to protect the object of love shot through my soul, pumping through my veins like a sweet sugar. My soul felt lightened, just like when Maka saved me before the Kishin arose.

A loud sound ripped me from the pool of emotions. It was the sound of ripping fibers, or the sound of stitches being broken as a person stressed their wounds to the extremes. I felt myself being pulled from Hesper's soul, and I felt a part of her being pulled from mine.

When I opened my eyes, we were back in the classroom with Professor Stein. Hesper's head was down, her chin pressing tightly to her chest.

"Well..your souls connected." Professor Stein said blandly, tightening his screw. "How do you two feel?"

Hesper slowly lifted her head, and stared into my eyes. Her orbs were oozing tears, her nose and cheeks blustered a bright pink as she sniffled.

"C-crona!" She cried, thrusting herself towards me and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back without thinking, not noticing the tears and snot that were dripping from my face as we rocked each other back and forth. We'd found someone, someone who understood. We cried for a little bit longer, holding onto each other.

"I now place you two in Maka's group. Congratulations." Professor Stein said softly, patting each of our heads before leaving us and giving us some time to be alone.

We cried together for the rest of the day, only leaving when the final bell rang and silently went our separate ways home.

Neither of us noticed that we were both barefoot and were wearing a matching golden dress and suit.


End file.
